green fleshing

A method of applying mechanical action to hides or
skins after they have been soaked to a softened
condition. It is done by scraping the flesh side
with a curved blade on the beam, or, in the usual
manner today, in a fleshing machine. In the
tanning of heavy leather, FLESHING frequently
takes place following liming and unhairing;
however, green fleshing, which takes place before
liming, has several advantages: 1) it provides a
more uniform grain surface for unhairing and helps
prevent grain damage during machine unhairing; 2)
the physical compression by both the feed rolls
and fleshing cylinder materially prevent excessive
plumping of the softened hide fibers during
subsequent liming; 3) a comparatively thick flesh,
particularly one of a fatty nature, reduces
soaking, bactericidal, and liming effects; and 4)
the formation of calcium soaps during liming and
oily matter during tanning is held to a minimum,
particularly when poor or insufficient curing has
resulted in the presence of free fatty acids in
the fatty tissue. Also called "soak fleshing." (306 )